Thursday, December 27, 2012

"Star Wars: Episode VII" is still looking for a director, despite the fact that producer Frank Marshall said in mid-November that they had narrowed the list to a couple of candidates. One has to wonder if one of those was J.J. Abrams, who has confirmed he was asked to direct, and turned it down.

Speaking to Empire magazine, Abrams, who currently helms the rebooted "Star Trek" movie franchise (2009's "Star Trek" and the upcoming "Star Trek Into Darkness") said he will stick to just one of the "Star" franchises. He said:

I guess the franchises could go up against each other, but I'm not thinking that far ahead! I'm a huge fan of Star Wars, Empire and Jedi, and the idea of the world continuing is exciting and will be amazing. Kathy Kennedy is a friend and there are no smarter producers. It's in great hands.

... there were the very early conversations and I quickly said that because of my loyalty to Star Trek, and also just being a fan, I wouldn't even want to be involved in the next version of those things. I declined any involvement very early on. I'd rather be in the audience not knowing what was coming, rather than being involved in the minutiae of making them.

"Little Miss Sunshine" screenwriter Michael Arndt has already been confirmed to be scripting "Star Wars: Episode VII," which is scheduled to hit theaters sometime in 2015.

Last month, "X-Men: First Class" director Matthew Vaughn was rumored to be in talks for the film, and with Abrams known to be out -- and with Marshall's statements -- confirmation of a director may come soon.